This political history of US manpower training and employment policy from the 1946 Employment Act to the current Job Partnership Act analyzes the failure of the US to adopt viable employment policies. Between these two landmarks of legislation lie the War on Poverty, attempts to create public service employment (PSE), the abortive Humphrey-Hawkins Act, and the beleaguered Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Americans claim a strong attachment to the work ethic and regularly profess support for government policies to promote employment. Why, then, have employment policies gained only a tenuous foothold in the United States? To answer this question, Margaret Weir highlights two related elements: the power of ideas in policymaking and the politics of interest formation.